Tommy Thompson on Budget & Economy

Former Secretary of H.H.S.; former Republican Governor (WI)

Balanced budget is first priority

If elected to the U.S. Senate, Thompson said one of the first needs he would support is "a balanced budget. I'd also ask every federal agency to reduce spending by 5 percent and give the Secretaries who run those departments the authority to do
away with programs that weren't working."

Baldwin, if elected, "would end the war in Afghanistan, make it illegal for drug companies to profit from Medicare Part D, get rid of corporate welfare for big farms and big oil."

Tax-and-spend policies are out of the mainstream

Thompson opened the debate by labeling his opponent Tammy Baldwin "a taxer and a spender." He accused her of being out of the mainstream and failing to produce any changes in Washington. "Baldwin doesn't have a record to run on, so all she can
do is try to get people not to like me," Thompson said.

Addressing runaway spending is defining issue of our day

Q: How would you help Americans build a financial nest egg for their retirement?

A: Governor Thompson fully and wholeheartedly endorses Paul Ryan's Path to Prosperity and will take all necessary steps to ensure the U.S. Senate takes up the plan.
Addressing runaway spending and the debt it causes is the defining issue of our day. The clearest, most immediate path to achieving lasting reform is to elect a senator who is most prepared to move the core tenets of Paul Ryan's plan through the Senate.

Full audit of the Federal Reserve

Build the roads and the jobs follow

When we came in, Wisconsin was largely a network of inefficient and dangerous two-lane highways. So we built strategic corridors of four-lane roads that are delivering remarkable economic benefits for communities.
From 1990 to 1996, more than 87% of the 1,900 manufacturing developments in Wisconsin occurred within five miles of a Corridors 2020 highway. And these plants created 90% of the new manufacturing jobs in our state.
We built the roads and the jobs followed. The correlation couldn’t be clearer, nor could the payoff on the investment.

We also increased spending on mass transportation by 140%, helping our workers get to and from their jobs.
And we are leading the nation into an exciting new era of high-speed passenger rail with the help of Amtrak. We’ve taken a balanced approach to moving our products and people in Wisconsin.

Vetoed 255 spending bills totalling $43M

The 1999-2001 Budget made historic investments in Wisconsin families, provided over $1 billion dollars in tax relief and made unprecedented commitments in education and health care.

Gov. Thompson strengthened the budget by making 255 vetoes to cut a record $43 million in unnecessary spending. The governor also used his veto pen to eliminate $43 million in tax hikes on business, including $31 million in recycling taxes on companies.

Source: Wisconsin Governor’s web site, “Budget”
, Dec 25, 2000

Let state meat inspection suffice for interstate shipments.

Thompson signed the Midwestern Governors' Conference resolution:

WHEREAS, The federal Meat and Poultry Inspection Act prohibits the interstate shipment of state inspected meat and poultry products; and

WHEREAS, Twenty-five states, including eight in the Midwest, have developed individual state inspection programs for plants which do not currently participate in the interstate shipment of meat and poultry products; and

WHEREAS, Despite meeting federal requirements enforced through a state program, the lack of federal program approval prohibits these smaller state inspected plants from shipping beef, pork, poultry, sheep, lamb, or goat products in commerce across state lines; and

WHEREAS, This restriction unfairly and severely limits the smaller plants’ marketing options, particularly in the burgeoning Internet market; and

WHEREAS, The Midwestern Governors strongly support meat and poultry inspection plans that protect public health; now therefore be it

RESOLVED, That the Midwestern Governors urge Congress to pass legislation that removes this unfair marketing barrier but continues to insure safe meat and poultry products.

Christian Coalition publishes a number of special voter educational materials including the Christian Coalition Voter Guides, which provide voters with critical information about where candidates stand on important faith and family issues.
The Christian Coalition Voters Guide summarizes candidate stances on the following topic: "Passage of a Balanced Budget Amendment to the U.S. Constitution"

Foster dairy production that is market driven.

WHEREAS, the Federal Milk Marketing Order System was created in 1937 to provide economic incentives to dairy farmers in order to provide sufficient fresh fluid milk for all Americans; and

WHEREAS, the Federal Milk Marketing Order System has served its original purpose and the creation of the Interstate Highway System and refrigeration trucks have allowed fresh fluid milk to be easily transported throughout the country; and

WHEREAS, studies show that dairy producers in the Midwest have comparative advantages that allow them to produce products more economically than dairy producers in other regions, yet under current conditions, our family dairy farmers and our states’ dairy infrastructure are at risk; and

WHEREAS, the dairy industries in our states provide a vital underpinning of our states’ economies; and

WHEREAS, the United States Department of Agriculture should foster dairy production that is market driven; and

WHEREAS, the 1996 Farm Bill charged the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture to substantially reform and simplify the Federal Milk Marketing Order System; and

WHEREAS, regional pricing solutions, such as compacts, could impede efforts to promote a market-oriented system and erect barriers to the export of dairy products from our states; now therefore be it

RESOLVED, that the United States Department of Agriculture move forward to implement a new, streamlined system that more closely reflects the true national dairy market and that does not provide an unjustified pricing advantage or disadvantage to any region of the country.